Castlevania II: Simon's Quest is a really interesting game, no doubt.
Unlike the original, Simon's Quest decides to be an action-adventure, where you travel through many areas across Transylvania, in a non-linear fashion, to fight monsters, talk to townspeople, and uncover Mansions where the five pieces of Dracula reside.
All of this while there's an in-game timer, that while doesn't have a limit, makes the game have a day and night cycle, where certain elements change whether it's day or night.
This structure has been bashed by many people for being convoluted, cryptic and feeling like you easily get lost.
While I don't oppose those people's comments, the matter of the fact is... I had fun with this one.
It's not as good as the original, yes, but I really like the vibe of this game.
Unless I'm mistaken, I don't think there's ever been a Castlevania game where you go through towns, forest and mansions in a free-form fashion like this.
Even the Search Action/Metroidvania games that we would see in the future, like Symphony of the Night, always made you run around a giant castle, but never (or barely) outside.
While a lot of the NPCs in the towns say useless things, some of them do give you clues to what you should be getting to proceed. Additionally, there's also some textbooks you can find in cryptic places of the world that give you more hints at progression.
And the towns can also have churches, that help you heal yourself back up, which were a godsend (pun not intended).
The day and night system can make it so you can't talk to any of the townsfolk or go inside any buildings, which does suck, but at least I get the opportunity to grind for hearts from the Zombies that constantly appear in them.
Hearts in this game, while they're still ammunition for some of the sub-weapons that you get in your journey, they're also currency to buy many of the items you need to progress.
You also have lives in this game, and if you lose them all, that's a Game Over, which doesn't push you far, but makes you lose all your hearts, which makes it so you have to grind again.
BUT... if you're able to not get many Game Overs, if at all, besides the beginning of the game, you should rarely need to grind, which is nice!
The music in this game is really nice to the ears! It might be a bit limiting, but the tracks were so good, that it didn't get repetitive for me. Bloody Tears was introduced in this game, and it's awesome, one of my favourite Castlevania tracks, bar none.
The graphics themselves aren't that much better than the first game, but I do like the detail that the backgrounds have, especially as you go along, and they start changing seasons, from Spring all the way to Winter.
This game has its problems, yes, but even in spite of them, I had fun going through Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, and I wish they made a game like this again, just with stuff like a map and better dialogue, and stuff.
Unlike the original, Simon's Quest decides to be an action-adventure, where you travel through many areas across Transylvania, in a non-linear fashion, to fight monsters, talk to townspeople, and uncover Mansions where the five pieces of Dracula reside.
All of this while there's an in-game timer, that while doesn't have a limit, makes the game have a day and night cycle, where certain elements change whether it's day or night.
This structure has been bashed by many people for being convoluted, cryptic and feeling like you easily get lost.
While I don't oppose those people's comments, the matter of the fact is... I had fun with this one.
It's not as good as the original, yes, but I really like the vibe of this game.
Unless I'm mistaken, I don't think there's ever been a Castlevania game where you go through towns, forest and mansions in a free-form fashion like this.
Even the Search Action/Metroidvania games that we would see in the future, like Symphony of the Night, always made you run around a giant castle, but never (or barely) outside.
While a lot of the NPCs in the towns say useless things, some of them do give you clues to what you should be getting to proceed. Additionally, there's also some textbooks you can find in cryptic places of the world that give you more hints at progression.
And the towns can also have churches, that help you heal yourself back up, which were a godsend (pun not intended).
The day and night system can make it so you can't talk to any of the townsfolk or go inside any buildings, which does suck, but at least I get the opportunity to grind for hearts from the Zombies that constantly appear in them.
Hearts in this game, while they're still ammunition for some of the sub-weapons that you get in your journey, they're also currency to buy many of the items you need to progress.
You also have lives in this game, and if you lose them all, that's a Game Over, which doesn't push you far, but makes you lose all your hearts, which makes it so you have to grind again.
BUT... if you're able to not get many Game Overs, if at all, besides the beginning of the game, you should rarely need to grind, which is nice!
The music in this game is really nice to the ears! It might be a bit limiting, but the tracks were so good, that it didn't get repetitive for me. Bloody Tears was introduced in this game, and it's awesome, one of my favourite Castlevania tracks, bar none.
The graphics themselves aren't that much better than the first game, but I do like the detail that the backgrounds have, especially as you go along, and they start changing seasons, from Spring all the way to Winter.
This game has its problems, yes, but even in spite of them, I had fun going through Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, and I wish they made a game like this again, just with stuff like a map and better dialogue, and stuff.